Computer Blues
by Renkun
Summary: Koushiro Izumi, a genius who won a scholarship, moved to an apartment in Tokyo and was given a new laptop by his parents but something happened that might change his life forever... (Gomen for disappearing!)
1. New Kid

Computer Blues

By: Megumi Mikage (みかげ めぐみ)

Disclaimer: Digimon isn't mine.

Warning: Shounen-ai and fluff.

Rating: PG-13 (and it will stay like that if I can help it.)

Pairings: Jyoushiro/Koujyou and a not-so-surprise one (meaning Taito/Yamachi). (Not sure of the others yet.)

A/N: I know. Corny title. Can't help it. 'Nyways, when I was surfing the net, found out that there's a lacking of Jyou+Koushiro-centric  fics out there. The worst part is, I'm in love with the pairing. -_-;; I always check FF.Net (and a few other sites) for updates or what but… none. Disappointing, isn't it? Also, I'm in a crappy mood today and I dun know why. -_-;;;;; Pardon if the characters are OOC. I swear. I can't identify whether the characters are OOC until it's very obvious.  It's not that I'm blind or anything, right? … Better yet, don't answer.

--Also, I know I still have two other stories to finish but… ;_; (Besides, I thought of this one up before them. It just so happens that I typed them before this one.)

Feedback, Reviews, Comments, etc. are very much welcomed with open arms!! If there's anything wrong with my grammar or spelling, please let me know. I don't have a beta and English is my second language. Thanx! (Oh, and that wasn't a typo.)

-=~o~=-

Chapter 1

-=~o~=-

Dedicated to Yana Rei (Who knew that she was into this stuff? I certainly was surprised myself.) and Inoue Aery (All-around good friend!).

-=~o~=-

Koushiro Izumi, a young computer genius who has a scholarship to one of the most prestigious universities in Tokyo, looked one last time at the farm in which he was brought up in. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Izumi, was already in the car and just waiting for Koushiro to get in, Mrs. Izumi a bit misty-eyed with the events.

"Koushiro, we need to be going if we want to reach Tokyo before four o'clock."

Koushiro nodded, picked up his old, worn laptop and turning his back on his childhood to face his future.

(I know. The line's corny also. What? I'm in a corny mood today.)

-=~o~=-

_203, 205, There!_

Koushiro rushed to the door of 207B, his new apartment. He quickly unlocked it to reveal a bare room with white-washed walls and a couple of doors. The small table at the middle of the room under the lamp-light and the small kitchenette at the side was clean. Koushiro took off his shoes and went to one of the doors. It was the bathroom equipped with a toilet, a faucet (with a small mirror above it) and a shower. The other room to the left had a closet (which held a pillow and a blanket) and a rolled up futon. The last door to the left of the bathroom was a broom closet of some kind. It is full of cleaning materials like rags, a broom, a metal bucket, a carton of wax, bathroom disinfectant,… the basics.

"Konnichiwa!"

Koushiro turned and saw a wild-haired brunette at the door.

"Who are you?"

The brunette grinned.

"I'm Yagami Taichi but you can call me Taichi or just Tai."

Koushiro nodded.

"I'm Izumi Koushiro but you can't call me Kou-chan or Izzy."

Tai pouted and a laugh resounded from the hallway.

"Don't mind Koushiro, young man. My son has always hated the nickname ever since he turned six."

Mr. Izumi suddenly appeared at the doorway, arms full of boxes.

"Koushiro, son, help me with these boxes. There's too many of them that I don't think I'll be able to untie my shoes and I don't think you like footprints littering on your floor."

Koushiro'hmph'-ed but moved to help his father.

"I'm not like mom."

His father, after being relieved of the boxes, smirked at him as if to say 'oh, yes, you are'.

Koushiro just stuck out his tongue.

"Cute. Very cute, Kou-CHAN."

"'TOU-SAN!!!!!"

His father just laughed before going back out.

"I think your dad a nice guy."

Koushiro raised his eyebrow at Taichi.

"… As if."

Tai smirked, making a carbon-copy of his fathers, before retreating in his apartment, 205B.

Koushiro just sighed and began unpacking.

-=~o~=-

"Kou- Koushiro!!!!!!"

His mother wailed, throwing her arms around her son. Koushiro looked a bit uncomforable but didn't push his mother away.

"My little boy is all grown up!!!!! It feels as if it was just yesterday when you pee-ed in your pants and when you-"

"'KAA-SAN!!!"

Koushiro's face was quite red and he looked around the hallway to see if it was deserted. No such luck though. A blonde who was standing in front of Tai's apartment heard every single thing his mom said.

Koushiro groaned in embarrassment, resisting the urge to hide himself in his apartment and never come out.

Bloody likely though.

"What is it, Koushiro? Can't a mother worry about her son?"

"Worrying is one thing and embarrassing and fussing is another!"

"Fine! Be that way!"

His mother 'hmph'-ed and pouted, walking away with her arms across her chest[1] and her chin held high.

The blonde laughed.

"I can't believe we've met. New?"

Koushiro nodded, looking at his shoes as if they have the power to erase the memory of a certain person of a certain event if he stared at it enough[2].

"What's your name?"

"Izumi Koushiro."

"Ishida Yamato."

They were silent for a while then…

"What brings you to Tokyo?"

"I am granted a full scholarship in the Tokyo University[3] for any course I want."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Who would've thought that those supposedly wise people that handles TU were moronic enough to give me something big as that? ME. A small country boy who won a few awards. I think they really went overboard."

Yamato looked at him skeptically.

"You must be kidding me, right? There is no abso-fucking-lutely way that the TU will give that kind of offer to a, and I quote, 'small country boy who won a few awards'. What contests did you win anyways?"

"The first prize in the science and technology part of the HS inter-state regionals… the first prize at a programming contest held by I-School… Another gold in the Math State Competitions-"

"Okay, okay. You have said enough."

Koushiro just shrugged.

"… wait a minute. You aren't-?"

Koushiro's left eyebrow raised.

"Aren't- what?"

"Koushiro Izumi? The one JapToday[3] labeled as the 'youngest computer genius'?"

"I was?"

"You mean you didn't know?"

"Don't really watch TV nor read magazines and newspapers. Current events are such a bore, really. The only magazine I can stand is Sci-Tech[3] magazines."

"Oh, then I suppose you don't watch PopJap[3] too?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

Silence yet again then…

"YAMA-CHAN!!!!"

Yamato was nearly knocked over by a brown-haired bundle who suddenly jumped on Yamato's back.

"Tai."

Tai looked up and saw Koushiro.

"Oh. Hi, Kou-CHAN!!!"

Koushiro winced.

"Can you please not call me that?!"

"Now, now. Why won't he, Izzy-kins? Kareshi wa anata no tomodachi, deshou?" (He is your friend, isn't he?)

"Sou desu, Izumi-san!"

Mrs. Izumi smiled at the charming young man.

"Now, don't forget all the things I told you and make sure that you eat well and have proper hygiene."

"Hai, 'kaa-san."

"I don't want you to forget sleeping because you got a-hold of a new short-ware-"

"'Kaa-san, it's SOFTware."

"Yeah, whatever. Software, Shortware, Sureware, I don't care. Take good care of yourself. Don't go crossing the road before looking to the left and to the right."

Koushiro nodded.

"Oh, and we have a surprise for you!!!"

"And that is…?"

"Oh, be that way. Destroy the moment, why don't you."

"Aww… 'kaa-san. It's not that."

"I know." She smiled cheekily.

Koushiro sighed.

She'll never change… 

"Anywho, here's your father and your SURPRISE."

Koushiro glanced at his father, turned away, then turned back again, eyes wide as saucers.

"'KAA-SAN! That's- That's-"

"Yeah. A laptop. One with that Pen-ink 3-"

"Pentium 3."

"Uh-huh, and higher spacing disk-"

"Disk space."

"Whatever. Direct modeling-"

"Modem."

"built-in spoken and the rat thing…"

"Speaker and Mouse."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever those are."

"And it costs about a year's worth of paycheck so keep it in a nice condition. Only god knows when you'll get your hands on a new laptop."

His dad placed the box on the table and massaged his aching shoulders.

"Domo, 'tou-san."

"Nothing to it, kid. It was your mother's idea."

"Arigatou, 'Kaa-san."

"Iie. It's nothing. Thank me with a hug?"

Koushiro ran to his mother's open arms and hugged her.

"Awww… what a sweet moment."

"Tai!"

Koushiro blushed and separated from his mother.

Tai just grinned at him.

"Okay, Koushiro. We'll be going now."

"Ja ne, Koushiro."

"Sayonara, 'kaa-san, 'tou-san."

With one last hug, they left the building and Koushiro was left to his own devices.

"Kou-CHAN!"

Well, almost in his own devices.

"Shut your mouth, please, Tai."

"Okay then, Izzy-kins."

"Would you like to meet death right here and right now?"

Tai looked cautiously at the boy in front of him.

"Thanks for the offer but no thanks."

"Yeah. We'll be going."

Koushiro then remembered something.

"Oh, and Yamato?"

Yamato looked at him.

"Please don't tell anyone of… y'know."

Yamato smiled then nodded before disappearing in 205B.

-=~o~=-

Koushiro stretched before yawning. He finally finished unpacking everything and putting them in their right places.

Koushiro saw the box that held the laptop on the table.

… well, almost everything.

He saved the best for last.

Koushiro carefully opened and unwrapped the laptop (colored blue) and placed it on the table before placing the box on the floor. He unfolded it and the image that greeted him made him drop his jaw.

"Wow. When 'kaa-san said that this was what I wanted, I didn't expect that she actually gave me WHAT I wanted. She is so inarticulate whenever it comes to computer terms and his father doesn't care about those 'stupid, blasted things that costs a lot'."

He whistled before remembering that he had to charge the laptop first. He took the wires from the box and stuck everything in their place. There was a bit of a spark when Koushiro stuck the plug in the socket but Koushiro thought nothing of it.

_…Probably just some charge because it hasn't been used for a long time._

After checking that every thing was okay, he locked the apartment door, shut the lamp-light, and went into 'his' room and slept.

-=~o~=-

Meanwhile, a whirring sound came from the laptop and it started to glow…

-=~o~=-

End of Chapter 1.

[1] I would've typed breasts but it sounded much better with the term chest. Besides, they are both the same.

[2] I know it's lame but at least it's original.

[3] I just made up these terms. I'm not really sure if there's a Tokyo University, nor a JapToday or PopJap or a Sci-Tech (cheesy!) but I don't live in Tokyo, or anywhere in Japan, so how will I know? And don't tell me to go there until you want to give me a couple of plane tickets from my home country to Japan and back, with complete lodgings, because if I'm to ask my mother or my father, it will definitely never come. They hate the fact that I'm spending money on J-pop and J-rock CDs and Anime VCDs and DVDs (not to mention the cost of the few mangas and doujinshis that I managed to collect and the posters and stuff) already.

A/N: And that is that. -_-;;; Tell me it's full of crap and I'll punch your face in.

         -Just kidding. =^-^=

P.S. I would really much like it if someone can explain html to me. I know, I know. I'll eventually learn it from my school or some course but I'm impatient and since the whole fic screams 'TECHNOLOGY!!!!!!!' I finally remembered to ask. I know some basic terms like how to put pictures and stuff, though. Also, if there's anything wrong in ANYTHING above, don't be shy. Tell me (and the reason why of course). I won't bash your head in. Told ya it was a joke, didn't I? (Besides, I suck at buying particular electronic gadgets such as laptops and palmtops and etcetera. I know, there's already a Pentium 4 but, as far as I know, there is still no laptop model that can handle the speed of Pentium 4, right? And was I right with the term, disk space? I use the computer very much but I just do some images with CorelDraw10 and Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and 6, type my ass off in MS Word and surf the net. See? All I care about are the softwares and Internet. I don't particularly care about the hardware, unless there's a quiz or an exam in Computer class.) And another thing, if anyone there knows how to do programming and is nice enough to have the patience (though I'm a quick learner) to teach me (and sometimes, I can get confused by the simplest things but understand the more complex things -_-;;;;;;), please teach me. Domo Arigatougozaimasu!!!

P.P.S. If anyone e-mails or reviews me about WHY this fic is Yaoi (or shounen-ai, or SLASH, or whatever) is disgusting or I'm sick because I'm writing stuff like this or whatever, I'll tell you a couple of things. First, I'm already in the verge of going insane because of my family, friends and acquaintances. Second, You are either blind or your so stupid that you can't read. That was WHY the WARNING was there in the first PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!! .*****!!!!!!

--The second chapter will be out after a while. How long that 'while' is? I dun know. Probably a few weeks? … or maybe days (probably days because I already started it). I dunno exactly. When I feel like typing my ideas, I guess. I think that you can guess what will happen next, though. If you wanna guess, go ahead. The clues are already in the chappie.

C&Cs, Reviews and Suggestions are welcome!!!!!! (Even flames that has a LOGICAL reason are accepted with open arms! ^^;; Mata…)

-------------------------------------------------

Another note: (that you can go on without reading)

I can't believe I reached 10 pages including the warning, title, A/Ns and stuff (8 pages if you just consider the chappie). Well, I do write long but… wow.

…

So, okay. I won't comment anymore. It might jinx the fic.


	2. Impossible! but true

Computer Blues By: Megumi Mikage

Disclaimer: Digimon isn't mine. If you still don't get that (from my very first disclaimer)...

Warning: Told you. It's one of my usual Shounen-ai fluff. (Extra stress and emphasis on SHOUNEN-AI)

Rating: PG-13 (considered public safe, if you understand what the warning means.)

Pairing: Jyoushiro/Koujyou, Taito/Yamachi (obviously). There's no lemon nor lime scenes so why care who's uke or seme?

Chapter 2

Koushiro opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings and quickly shot up... before remembering that he moved to his apartment (HIS apartment) just yesterday.

This will take some getting used to.

Koushiro wearily stood and padded his way to the kitchenette but before he can reach his destination, something, or rather, someONE, in his way tripped him.

"What the-?!"

In front of him was a pale skinned boy with shoulder-length blue hair and no clothes whatsoever.

'He' stirred and sat up, rubbing his eye with his right hand and covering a yawn with the other.

Koushiro's eyes widened and he scurried to the opposite wall.

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"So let me get this straight. You're...?"

The boy, now dressed in a shirt and a pair of pants that's a bit--okay, a lot--small for him, sighed in exasperation.

"I told you. My serial number and Identification code is K14D-1228-JYOU1 better known by the name 'Jyou'."

Koushiro shook his head.

That can't be. 'Jyou' is the name of the new laptop model of Kido Enterprise, which is also the laptop that my parents bought for me.

"I still can't believe it. This whole thing, if it was true, makes you my LAPTOP. And laptops don't just suddenly transform into people by overnight, by a fortnight, even in the space of a year! This is just plainly illogical!!"

"Well, how will YOU explain why I'm here?!"

Silence fell over the two after the not-so-unexpected outburst.

"KOU-CHAN!!"

The door suddenly flew open and Taichi entered the apartment, followed by an embarrassed Yamato. They looked up and saw the new guy.

"Eh? Kou-chan, you shouldn't have. Y'know, you could've just told us. We ARE okay with homosexuality, you know. Yamato won't be my boyfriend if we weren't."

Koushiro's eyes widened more at this declaration and turned a bit green, pressing his back tighter against the wall.

I'm surrounded by weirdoes!

'He' or 'It' or whatever snickered and tried to control his laughter.

"What?"

At this proclamation from Taichi and Koushiro, 'He' finally succumbed to mirth and endless (almost endless) laughter began streaming from his lips.

"Was it something I said?"

Koushiro got the reason and just sighed.

How did I get into this?

'He' finally stopped laughing.

"S-sorry. Couldn't help myself."

Taichi just shrugged.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm Taichi. Yagami Taichi. And this fellow is Ishida Yamato."

"My-"

"He's Jyou! Umm... K- Kido Jyou."

Koushiro shot 'Jyou' a glance. Jyou just shrugged.

"Well, nice to meet you, Jyou."

Jyou smiled at them.

"Likewise."

--

Koushiro sighed as he closed the door.

"Kido Jyou, huh?"

Jyou smirked at him.

"Shut up."

Earlier, Taichi and Yamato stayed until it was time for the couple to go because of their cough anniversary celebration at this very fancy restaurant.

"No, really. Why didn't you tell them the truth?"

Koushiro pressed his forefinger and thumb at his temples.

"Well, because I want them to think that I'm gay... NOT! Do you really think that they will believe your story? What kind of fool do you take them to be?"

"I have to say that the Taichi guy is gullible. He may believe my story which, did I mention, is the TRUTH."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Anyways, since you already are here, you better have some appropriate clothes too. We're going shopping tomorrow."

Jyou glared at him.

"Go to sleep."

Jyou 'hmph'-ed.

"I hope the futon's okay with you. I only have one bed in this apartment and that's mine."

Jyou sighed then shrugged, unrolling the futon with a 'snap' sound before crawling on top of it.

--

"Ooohhhh...! Look at that, Koushiro!!"

Ever since Jyou and Koushiro stepped into the mall, Jyou started to gush over everything blue, from the smallest figurines to huge statues and mannequins.

Koushiro found himself dragged into every store by an over-excited Jyou.

"Jyou! We are not here to look at everything blue! We are here to get you clothes."

Jyou was now wearing a pair of slacks that was given to Koushiro by an aunt who didn't particularly know his size so it's was a bit longer that his other pants and fits Jyou perfectly and a white button-up polo with a blue jacket to top it off (due to Jyou's insistence).

Jyou pouted but let Koushiro direct him towards the clothes section of the department store. In it he saw many BLUE pants and BLUE shirts and Jyou suddenly forgot his anger at Koushiro for dragging him away from his exploration of the mall.

"Koushiro, there's lots of blue!"

"I know. Pick at least two pairs of pants and about seven shirts, some underwear, pajamas, a pair of slippers, socks and a pair of sneakers then we're out of here."

Well, at least that was what he intended.

Jyou fussed about everything, from the collar to the sleeve to the stitching and down and soon, it was already near dinner.

"Sorry if I got a little carried away with shopping."

Koushiro sighed, carrying bags which held the pair of Nike rubber shoes that took Jyou an hour to pick, some underwear--cotton white and grey ones, not blue, thank God--and a pair of blue pants with a matching belt. Jyou, on the other hand, held the ones carrying the shirts and polos, pajamas, slippers, and a blue jacket which Jyou managed to plead Koushiro into buying.

"This is the last time I am dragging you to the mall."

Jyou nodded but didn't care. He already had those cute blue slippers and blue silk pjs. What more can a laptop-turned-guy ask for?

Days passed peacefully, though not normally. Jyou became a permanent resident in Koushiro's apartment and Koushiro got a job in a little bookstore a few blocks away from the apartment owned by an old lady who's husband just died a few weeks ago.

Koushiro was just back from work when the sight of Jyou cooking greeted him.

"JYOU!"

Jyou jumped a bit.

"Koushiro! God, you surprised me. Don't do things like that!"

Koushiro held up both hands.

"Sorry! But, Jyou, what are you doing with those?"

Koushiro pointed at the spatula and knife in Jyou's hand then pointed at the cutting board with vegetables on it and the saucepan on the stove.

"I'm preparing for my WWF match tomorrow... DUH! What else do you think I'm doing?"

"I know! But WHY?"

"I... It's... Well, you're always home late and tired so I thought I'll cook dinner for once."

"Ah..."

Koushiro and Jyou both looked away, Koushiro at his feet and Jyou at the wall to the right, faces flushed.

"I'll help you."

Jyou shook his head.

"No. You just sit there and relax until dinner's ready."

Koushiro nodded and sat before the table.

Jyou started to walk away but tripped over the slight step on the floor.

"Jyou!"

Jyou sat up and grinned sheepishly.

"Gomen. I didn't see that."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a bit blurry but that's okay."

Koushiro frowned and held up two fingers.

"How many fingers?"

"Umm... Koushiro? What are you doing?"

"How many fingers?"

"Two."

Koushiro moved farther and held up four fingers.

"How many fingers?"

"Four."

Koushiro moved farther until he can feel the wall behind him and held up one finger.

"How many fingers?"

"Ummm... I can't see. Two?"

Koushiro snapped his fingers.

"I get it. You're near-sighted."

"Near-sighted?"

Jyou looked at Koushiro, confused.

"It means that you can't see far things well."

"Ah."

Jyou looked at his feet and stayed silent until, in a small voice, he asked...

"Does that mean I'm defective2?"

"Well... Not exactly. We can remedy that."

"Really?!"

Koushiro nodded. Jyou smiled at him.

"But that does mean we need to get you glasses."

"Glasses?"

"As in eye glasses."

"Ah."

Koushiro nodded.

Jyou thought for a moment.

"Does that mean we need to go to the mall?"

In the space of a month, he went to the mall two times. Both because of a certain laptop guy.

"Hmmm... You are near-sighted. I see. Will you please step inside the room?"

The ophthalmologist gestured Jyou in a small room with a black chair and the eye test poster4 on the wall opposite of the chair. Jyou looked at Koushiro. Koushiro just nodded. Jyou shrugged, entering the room.

It took about 15 minutes until they finally found the right lens grade amount3 for Jyou. It took another 30 minutes to get Jyou to pick a pair of frames (turned out to be a blue wired one, surprising, huh) and another 50 minutes for the Optical Center3 to make and attach the lens. All in all, it was not bad. Koushiro just waited and waited and waited for about an hour and thirty-five minutes.

Ha. As if.

Koushiro finished all of the magazines halfway through and nearly teared his hair off out of boredom. Jyou wasn't helping any either. He just kept looking around the room, looking at frames, at the mirrors, at anything to pass time.

Koushiro almost sang out praises to God when the ophthalmologist finally stepped out the back door and handed Jyou his new glasses.

--

Once outside...

"Okay, that's it. Take good care of those glasses because I'm not getting you another one."

Jyou nodded and walked beside him, finally able to walk a few blocks without tripping over nothing or slamming into anyone.

"Thank you, Koushiro."

End of Chapter 2.

1 Bwahaha... A lot of people already guessed this and, well, this got me thinking for a plot to the next chapter so I'm replacing Jyou's serial number. Sorry...

2 What do companies do to defective products? Throw them away. That's why I made Jyou fear the prospect of being defective. Even though he's now a person, he still WAS a laptop.

3 I don't know what I'm talking about here. You see, English is my second language and, although I'm almost fluent in it, I still don't know how to term somethings that I can easily say in my first language. So, I don't exactly know how you call the degree of thickness of the lens and the place where you get glasses and your eyes checked in English.

4 I know the name of this chart. Y'know, the one with the big 'E' on top and the symbols corresponding to that gets smaller and smaller? I just can't remember it at the moment. I had the term in Health class, y'see...

A/N:Well, It was supposed to be longer than that but I cut it there because our break has just finished and I have school tomorrow, not to mention that the chapter is long enough already. To record, the whole thing is in 10 pages and the chappie is in 8 pages, again! Why do this always happen? No matter. Yawn

Konbanwa!

C&Cs, Reviews, suggestions, and sensible and logical flames are welcome!!


	3. Pink, pink, pink and green?

Computer Blues 

By: Megumi Mikage

Disclaimer: As so said, over and over again, Digimon isn't mine.

Warning: Still Shounen-ai fluff. No bashing, I think.

Rating: PG-13 (And it won't change anytime soon!)

Pairing: Jyoushiro/Koujyou (my favourite!!!!! =^-^=), Taito and hints of Mira. Maybe future Takari or Kenkeru but only time can tell.

A/N: I can't believe I finally reached chapter 3 in just two days (though it would be more to you readers because I'm either banned from the internet or lazy to upload the chapter or it's still being read by my friends). I broke my record of 5 chapters in one week! URESHIII~!!!!! ^_____________^

--But this will probably reach FF.Net for MORE than 2 days. Gomen… 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

BIG THANKS to:

(new readers that reviewed)

VERY BIG THANKS to:

(old reviewers)

A HUGE FUDGE BROWNIE to:

(first reviewer for chapter 2)

--Tell me if you want the brownie, 'kay? But it's not my fault if it got squashed or stale when I send it by mail.

And special thanks to:

The maker of Digimon and the companies that helped!!!!!

Weiß Kreuz for 'Other Side of the Moon', 'Beautiful Alone', 'Velvet Underworld', 'Last in my winds', 'Epitaph', and 'Tokyo Sling'.

         --Especially for Seki Tomokazu for being Shuuichi Shindo and Ken Hidaka's seiyuu!!!!

         --Another for Koyasu Takehito for Aya Fujimiya and Nagano (the producer, I forgot his whole name)'s voice.

L'arc~en~ciel for '4th Avenue Café' and 'Blurry Eyes', Siam Shade for '1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou' and T.M. Revolution for 'Heart of Sword'.

All the reviewers who answered the question!!!!!!!!!!!!

RYUICHI SAKUMA-SAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm a fan of NG, whaddya expect?)

Satou Akemi for 'Wakatte-ita Hazu', Wards for 'Sekai ga Owaru made wa' and ZARD for 'My Friend'.

Sakamoto Ma'aya for 'Purachina', Minaya Naomi for 'Tooi no Machi de', Hirose Kami for 'Groovy!' and Tokuyama Hidenori for 'For Real'.

Charcoal Filter for 'Tight Rope', Utada Hikaru for 'Automatic', and ____________ for 'Mystic Eyes'.

Seki Tomokazu for 'Kimi ga Ita SCENE' ('Eien' no imi wa mada wakarani kedo~…!!!! ^_^)  and Syaoran's seiyuu (^^;;;;) for 'Ki Ni Naru Aitsu'.

Yukiko Kurumi for 'Chigusa Ginduki', 'Stia', 'Shot', and 'Ancestor'. (Check out her site though it's in Japanese. Visit my site for the link!!!!!!)

Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton (my favorite choirboy ^^) for playing Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy in the HPSS movie (and the upcoming HPCoS too)!!!!!

My mother (though she banned me from EVER using the computer during weekdays) and my trusty ol' computer (although it does hang sometimes).

My father (who just gave me enough money to buy the Saiyuki BTC and Inu-Yasha OST!!!!!!) and my cousins, Jowell and Mich.

My sis, Aya, and my homophobe friend that I told you about in Chapter 2, Linear.

And my friends, Juno, Rei, Aery (Aery's a 'he', BTW), Souichiro, Allan, Phoebs, Will, Kathy, Daph, Ame, Cheryl, Eleanor, Mary and Kim.

(Also, my classmate, Michael. ^_^ Thanks for your help in Math!!!!!)

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Chapter 3

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Dedicated to my supportive friend, Wei Li An!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and my science teacher, Prof. Richard G. Pausing. *waves*)

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It was already the end of summer and Koushiro needed to go to the university starting tomorrow.

"Jyou."

Jyou turned and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"I'll be starting school tomorrow. Don't forget to take good care of the house."

Jyou nodded.

"What are you going to do in the university?"

"Study for my 'future' occupation. What else will I do?"

Jyou nodded again and fell silent then…

"Good luck on your first day then."

Koushiro nodded, slinging his book bag over his shoulder. Silence reigned.

"Well, then. Good bye."

"Good bye."

Koushiro fidgeted.

"I'll be back later."

"Uh-huh…"

Jyou stared at the floor.

"Okay, then…"

Koushiro turned and opened the door-

"Ma. Itekimasu."

And went out.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jyou stayed in the same position about 5 minutes after Koushiro left, doing nothing except listening to the faint clicking of the wall clock.

_Click…Click…Click…_

"ARGH!!!!!!"

Jyou stood and went to the broom closet.

_Might as well be useful…_

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"The equation, (3xy + pyi)(pi + 67yr), is an algebraic expression wherein you need to…"

The teacher, Professor Takaya, droned on and on. Koushiro, usually a very attentive and curious student, began to wander with his mind. Worries about Jyou and the apartment, bills, and a lot more other things filled his world at the moment, unlike others who are either too engrossed in the 'wonders' of Math or just plainly asleep from boredom. Besides, it's not like they haven't studied all this before. It WAS just a review of Algebra…

"Izumi!"

Koushiro calmly stood, though he was a bit of a wreck inside from being caught off guard, if nothing else.

"Yes, sir?"

"What's your answer to question #1? As to seeing that you're not writing, I'm assuming that you're finished with the activity."

"Sir, I wasn't finished. I was just thinking what happened to my ballpen because it suddenly won't write, though it's still almost full with ink."

"Where's your book and notebook, then?"

"I was about to get to that when you called me, sir."

"Fine then. Get to it!"

Koushiro nodded, sitting down, and started doing the activity, silently sighing in relief.

(A/N: This reminds me of a scene in my class… Prof. Pausing was seething afterwards!!!!! ^_^ If you wanna know how he acts with us, think Prof. Snape in HP and his attitude towards Gryffindors. Actually, I think I would prefer Snape over Prof. Pausing… He always says, and I quote, 'I am not im**pressed**!' and 'Try all you want, but you can **never ever** pass my **test**!'. The bold letters being stressed when pronounced. Prof, if your reading this, this one's for you!!!—and no offense, really. DON'T FAIL ME!!!!!!!! *on knees* Onegai!!!!!!)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"A-choo!!!!!"

Jyou sneezed. Dust was flying around everywhere.

"My *sniff* goodness. Doesn't Kou-kun clean this house? It's full of dust particles and some other things that I don't even want to know what. And another is, I think my sensitive frame can't stand dust. One may say that I'm _allergic_ to it, though the notion is very laughable, considering I'm not a person."

"Ah!"

Jyou, who didn't hear the door open in the middle of his tirade, nearly jumped through the ceiling from shock at the sound of a woman's voice. He quickly turned around and saw a middle-aged woman (though you wouldn't notice it since her youthful face betrayed her real age) with long raven hair, and chinky black eyes.

"I'm so sorry… I didn't think that there would be a person in here…"

"Don't worry. I'm here because of a sort of… last minute thing…"

Jyou looked sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Anyways, I'm Kido Jyou, Koushiro's… friend."

The lady smiled.

"My name is Matsumoto Mahiko. I'm the landlady of this apartment building."

They shook hands.

"Ano… Where is Izumi-san?"

"He's in the University, at the moment."

"Ara…!" The landlady placed a hand on her cheek. "I didn't know. Please tell him to see me when he comes back, okay?"

Jyou nodded.

The landlady excused herself and went out.

_What was that all about?_

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"KOUSHIRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A thing suddenly jumped Koushiro from the back, tripping Koushiro.

"Wah!"

"Koushiro!!!!! How are you?????? We haven't seen each other in a long time!!!!!!!!! When did you go to Tokyo??????"

"Get off me!!!!"

"Fine, be that way to your old childhood friend!"

"Yeah, I'll be this way. Now get off of my back!!!!!"

"Hmph!"

The 'thing' crossed her arms and rolled off Koushiro. Koushiro stood up and started dusting himself.

"Hello? I DO need some help here!"

"Who, you?"

"Yeah, me."

"I don't think you do. I mean, if you can glomp me with so much force, there's probably more than enough left for you to stand by yourself."

"Feh! There are such things as 'being a gentleman', Koushiro."

Koushiro sighed and helped her up.

"Whatever, Mimi."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Why did you follow me all the way here?!"

"Why? You ask why? My, Koushiro. I thought you were a genius!"

"Mimi, I don't mean to offend but your mind is full of air and you do things without using your head so I have long since stopped trying to figure out as to why you are doing a certain action."

"Ouch, Kou-chan. That hurt."

"Gomen."

"Bad day, huh?"

"You said it."

Koushiro sighed.

"Fine! I'm here because I want to see where you live."

"Why?"

"Because I want to visit you some other time."

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

"Why?"

"Because… Koushiro, you are getting more annoying as you grow older."

"I try."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Click! 

The door suddenly opened.

"Tadaima."

Jyou stepped out from the room, untying the apron strings.

"Okaeri."

Then there was silence until…

"Argh. I can't seem to untie this thing…"

Koushiro walked up to him and replaced Jyou's hands with his own.

"Here. Let me do it."

Koushiro had the strings untied in a minute and Jyou happily got rid of the faded yellow apron.

"Awww… How sweet…"

Jyou looked up and saw a girl with… bright… pink… hair…

"What happened to your hair?!"

"What happened to yours?" She shot back.

Jyou touched his mop of blue hair and shrugged.

_In regards to her reaction, I would say that humans don't usually have blue hair…Hmmm…_

"None of your business."

Jyou snapped and suddenly felt guilty.

"Gomen, I didn't mean what I said."

"Man, what is it with males today? First I greet my father earlier this morning and got a cold shoulder then I glomp Koushiro and I got insulter then now I ask you and I get snapped on!"

The girl 'hmph'-ed and stood there with arms crossed in front of her.

Minutes of silence passed then…

"Well?"

Both males looked at her.

"Well, what?"

"Don't just stand there, Kou-chan! Introduce me!"

Koushiro sighed.

"Jyou, this is Mimi. Mimi, Jyou."

"Hajimemashite! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Mimi bowed.

_Eh? What's with the bowing? Maybe it's a custom of the Japanese…_(1)

"Ah, dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Jyou mimicked Mimi. (¬_¬;;;)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Koushiro saw this but, fortunately, Mimi did not… _I think_. He quickly pulled the back of Jyou's shirt, making Jyou straighten.

"Ehehehehehe… Eto…" Koushiro smiled uncomfortably, looking for a way to get rid of Mimi without making her suspicious…

Then he spotted the wall clock.

"Oh my, Mimi. Look at the time! Don't you have something aligned for 7:30 pm?"

Mimi looked at the clock.

"OMG!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to be late for supper!!!!! Got to go. Ja, matane, Jyou-san, Kou-chan!!!!!"

She did this sort-of closed fingered wave(2) before going out and slamming the door.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

End of Chapter 3.

(1)- _O-jigi - _Japanese Customary bow. In Japanese custom, women bows with their hands in front of them while males bows with their hands at their sides. Meaning, Jyou just did a woman's bow which will look totally weird, considering Mimi thinks he's Japanese and Japanese people *usually* knows about this stuff. Especially the big clans or the shrine people or rich or important person(s).

(2)- Remember beauty pageant contestants? They wave the same way.

A/N: I updated earlier because of the mistake… Gomen. I'm really, really, really sorry. Never going to happen ever again… I think. ;_; Wahhhhhhhhh~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways, I have eps. 25-32 of HIKARU NO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I've been waiting for this for weeks!!!!) ^_^ Touya-kun… Hikaru-kun… Isumi-kun… Waya-kun… ^_^

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A/N: (The one in which you can go on without reading)

Yey!!!! Another 8 page story and 10 page over-all!!!!!!!! ^_^V I'm on a roll!!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Computer Blues

By: Megumi Mikage

Disclaimers: I've been putting up disclaimers for three chapters already. You would've think that people would have gotten a clue already.

Warning: Shounen-ai fluff. Positively no bashing.

Rating: PG-13 ( . )

Pairing: Jyoushiro/Koujyou, Taito/Yamachi, and Mira. Maybe Takari or Kenkeru or Walkeru… shrugs only time will tell.

A/N: Eto… Ano… it's been a year, ne… ; Gomen… I kinda forgot to upload this… ehehehe… (To Music Nimf: How did you know? O.O Wah… sugoi…) Well… actually, to explain my absence… My sister accidentally(?) downloaded a virus so my computer went ka-poof! And we had to get someone to fix it but my parents were so lazy (Ack! I mean, drowned in officework! Yeah, that's it!) and I was so busy with school that we forgot. (I'm actually an honor student, even if I might not seem to be one…) After that, when we got someone to fix it (my uncle who is coincidentally also our neighbor ¬¬), we found out that we had to change almost everything and one thing led to another… well, it's a good thing that we had a laptop for my projects and a bunch of friends to print. That's all I can say about my situation. I KNOW that disappearing for a year is really…!! It's… it's… Waaahhhhh!!!!!!!! I'm really really REALLY sorry… I didn't know that I didn't upload this. If I remembered correctly, I did… well, erm… slaps hypocritical procrastinating self And I've been talking about other writers… T-T I swore that… wahhh… continues to hit herself because of what she did

BIG THANKS to:

(to new reviewers)

VERY BIG THANKS to:

(to old reviewers)

CHOCOLATE BARS to:

(First reviewer)

-- Okay… Chocolate Bars… What kind? Snickers? Milky Way? Nestlè Crunch?

And special thanks to:

THE ONE WHO DID DIGIMON!!!!! (--;;; I still don't know the maker of Digimon…)

Tokuyama Hidenori and Kurosawa Kenichi for 'FOR REAL' and 'STILL TIME', Charcoal Filter and Tetsu (from L'arcenciel) for 'TIGHT ROPE'.

Tooyama Yuu for 'STILL TIME', Shimokawa Mikyuni, Sumiyo Mutsumi, and ab:fly for 'ALONE', Mirai for 'OPEN UP YOUR MIND'.

Sheila de Niro, Mitsui Yukiko, Takahashi Keiichi and Snowman for 'OPEN UP YOUR MIND'.

V6 for 'CHANGE THE WORLD' and the Japanese version of 'YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART', Hirose Kami and Honma Akimitsu for 'GROOVY!'.

Two-Mix for 'RHYTHM EMOTION', 'JUST COMMUNICATION', and 'WHITE REFLECTION', Keno for 'OHAYOU'.

Ritsuko Okazaki and Tatsuya Murayama for 'FOR FRUITS BASKET', Mad Soldiers for 'SUPER DRIVE' and 'GLARING DREAM'.

Utada Hikaru for 'AUTOMATIC' and 'CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?'(I don't like Sakura drops that much).

Ayumi Hamasaki for 'DEPEND ON YOU', F4 for the Chinese version of 'CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE'.

The singer of 'PIANY PINKU (Peony Pink)' and 'GIFT' (from CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan).

The people who sang 'CRUEL ANGEL'S THESIS', 'Y'KNOW' and 'LOVE SOMEBODY'.

Iwao Junko, Takahashi Ken, Sawachika Hirosuke, and Yamamoto Harukichi for 'SCARLET'.

Day-break for 'ONE KONO YO GA HATETE MO HANARENAI' and 'CROSS MY HEART', w-inds for 'BECAUSE OF YOU'.

My teacher, Pastor Phie!!!!!!!! (For our wall-climbing outing session earlier… though my arms still hurt…)

My friend, Eiri, who accompanied me to the said outing. (Also, Eli, Audrey, and Pao-chan)

Olivia (a major fan of Gojyo who won 2nd place in a Cosplay competition as Gojyo), Marie, Bernice, and Kishi. (Olivia-san, OMEDETOU!!!!!)

My mom and dad for giving me money to buy mochi and pizza!!!!!!!!!

And the usual group, Juno, Jun, Souichiro, Soujiro, Jay, Kenji, Mich, Kyuri, Eiri, Yana, Linear, Reine, Seiichiro, etc.

Chapter 4

Dedicated to the reviewers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"That was weird."

Koushiro agreed.

Jyou shook his head and went over to the table.

"Here. I made you dinner. Eat it before it gets cold."

Koushiro walked slowly to the table and sat, Japanese-style.(1)

"What did you make?"

"Oh, some fish, vegetables, rice, miso… the usual."

Koushiro nodded.

"I see. Well, Itadakimasu."

He pulled out some chopsticks and started eating. Jyou just sat across him, head tilted sideways.

"Ummm… Jyou? Do you remember about the ahem staring thing?"

Jyou's eyebrows snapped up.

"Gomenasai!!!!! I- I forgot and…"

"It's okay!!!! Just… don't do it whenever anyone's around… I guess…"

Jyou smiled, face a bit pink from the earlier embarrassment.

"Domo, Kou-kun… Anyways, are you going to _Toudai_ tomorrow?"

"Well, yeah… but I'm going home earlier than today."

"What about your part-time job?"

"Oh, well… I decided to quit because my parents gave me an increase in my allowance. They say it's because I'm a student of _Toudai_ and I need money for my usual, everyday needs…"

"Oh… Sou ka."

"Un. Sou."

"Sou."

"Sou."

"…"

"Why aren't you eating?"

Jyou's head snapped up in surprise.

"What?"

Koushiro sighed and motioned towards the food.

"Why aren't you eating?"

"Oh, I already finished."

"Oh…"

FLASHBACK

"KOUSHIRO!!!!! It's morning!!!!"

Koushiro groaned and turned over, burying his head under the pillows.

"Mou!!!! Koushiro!!!!!"

Koushiro felt the bed sink with the added weight and a hand shook his shoulders.

"Koushiro!!!!!!!!!"

He sighed, and finally sat up, stretching his arms and yawning.

"Koushiro, you promised to bring me to the mall that you have been talking about for clothes!!"

"I know! I remember. Now get out of my room so I can change."

He stood, walking towards the closet, when he heard the door click shut. He pulled out a red shirt and a pair of pants1 and started dressing.

When he got out, however, Jyou, as they now call him, in his ridiculously short pants and tight shirt looked so absurd that Koushiro can't help but snicker.

"What?"

"You snicker stay here snort while I chuckle borrow some clothes from Taichi. You look silly in mine…"

And Koushiro finally succumbed to the temptation and laughed out loud, all the while running towards the door to escape Jyou when his words finally sunk in.

"WHY YOU!!!!"

Koushiro ended up borrowing a pair of Yamato's extra slacks and polo shirt, seeing that all of Taichi's were either dirty or inappropriate for anything except clubbing and bar hopping. Jyou changed clothes while Koushiro prepared the traditional Japanese breakfast for two.

When Jyou got out of the bathroom, in Yamato's clothes, he looks more decent but a bit lanky. The clothes don't smother him anymore but the pants are still a bit short and the shirt's a bit too loose.

"You know, you really need to eat. You're so thin!"

"Ha ha. Very funny."

However, Jyou sat across Koushiro and started eating.

First, he started with the fish… and had boils.

Then, he ate the rice… and had a nasty rash.

He wiffed the smell of miso… and had a bout of sneezes.

"Ummm… Jyou?"

"What?!"

"Are you allergic to EVERYTHING?"

"Allergic?"

"As in, sensitive to a certain thing or object."

"No. I can eat this bowl of mixed vegetables."

"Uh-huh…"

END FLASHBACK

Koushiro placed a hand on his mouth, in fear of Jyou seeing his smile.

"What?"

"Eh?"

Koushiro looked up at Jyou.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing. I just remembered something."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Hmmm…"

Jyou sat back and looked at him.

"Oh, and Jyou… I've been meaning to ask you…"

"What?"

"Why are you allergic to almost everything? I mean, you easily get sunburned during summer, you sneeze whenever there's an accumulation of dust, you get boils and nasty rashes whenever you eat any seafood, you pass out whenever you eat meat, you…"

"Okay, okay. I get it!!!!"

"Well, why?"

Jyou frowned.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm really a laptop and laptops don't eat."

"But you turned into a human… Doesn't that make you as one?"

"Well, I think I have all the parts that all humans have but I don't think my system adapts that well to my new… circumstances."

"I guess…"

There was a heavy silence that made both of them a bit uneasy but that was quickly broken when…

"KOU-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Koushiro was glomped by a big brown-haired guy that goes by the name of Taichi.

"Taichi!!!!!!"

"Hello, Yamato-san."

Jyou stood and bowed, still the wrong way. Koushiro didn't see this though, as he was currently busy taking the big koala-like human that attached to him.

"Yo."

"Get off me, Taichi!!!!!!!"

"Luv you too, Kou-chan!!!!"

"Hey!!!!"

"Awww… Yamato-san's jealous…"

"Am not!!!!"

"Whatever you say, Yamato-san… Oh, and Yamato-san, why didn't you tell us that you are the lead singer of _Teen-Age Wolves_3?"

"Well…"

"YAMATO!!!!!!! Get your boyfriend off me!!!!"

"Uh-huh. I am the lead singer of the Teen-Age Wolves. And I didn't tell you because I thought you already know. Though Koushiro, on the other hand, didn't know about Teen-Age Wolves and that's because of two reasons. One: He's ignorant and doesn't care about J-pop and those stuff. Two: I didn't tell him because it's a refreshing change to actually have people NOT treat me as someone to be worshipped or something."

"I see… Well, I'll tell you that even if Koushiro knows, he won't treat you differently. He's a person who treats you by what he sees inside, not fame or fortune or some other lame reason. That's why I like him."

"I know. I see that."

Either he sees Koushiro's nature or something beyond that, Jyou simply smiled and watched Koushiro try, but to no avail, to remove Taichi's arms from his neck, not letting that comment bother him anymore.

"TAICHI!!!!!!!!!!"

End of Chapter 4.

1 I was tempted to make him wear the bright reddish orange polo shirt and yellow shorts that he wore in Digimon (as in the first one) but I don't think a student his age would still go for that kind of ensemble so I changed it. Sigh… they were so adorable then… (Oh, and he's not wearing the uniform, in Digimon 02, because school hasn't started yet, during that time.)

2 A traditional Japanese breakfast for the 'common people', as my resources say, is made up of a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso, a whole fried fish, and a bowl of mixed veggies. The veggies is 'toge' (as my mother calls them) and, I think, carrots… cabbage… and soy sauce?

3 Well, I prefer the original Japanese name of Yamato's band, though it seemed otherwise in the way I write their conversation, than the English dubbed one. Though they are almost the same, the Japanese's (is that correct?) is about wolves in the age of teens while the Americans made it as literary teenage wolves. As for the fact that Koushiro calls Taichi 'Taichi' and not 'Taichi-san' or 'Taichi-kun' or 'Yagami/Kamiya-san', Yamato as 'Yamato' and not 'Yamato-san' or 'Yamato-kun' or 'Ishida-san' and Jyou as 'Jyou' and not 'Jyou-san' or 'Jyou-kun' or 'Kido-kun' is because I want to show their relationships as casual or friend-like. Jyou, on the other hand, as comfortable as he is around Koushiro or Taichi, he still feels a bit uneasy around Yamato and it increased when he found out Yamato's a famous rock star (or J-pop star… ;;;) so he calls Yamato as 'Yamato-san'.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter's a bit pointless… but at least you now know how Jyou eats and why Jyou is almost allergic to everything and that my reason for the Jyoushiro pairing warning is finally peeking through. Sigh… It didn't come out as I intended it to be… I don't think it's nice enough… What do you think? Should I repeat it or not?

A/N: (aka the page count at the end of every story… which you can go on without reading)

WAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! My usual rate's broken!!!!!! The whole chapter is now 9 pages and the story totals to approximately 6 pages. Sigh… (Damn!!!!! It's all my fault! Why did I write that part in Chapter 1???????? WHY??????? Now the fates are against me… ;;)


	5. Chapter 5

Computer Blues

A/N: Uh, oops. ; Sorry for disappearing for a long time again... However, I will always return, promise! So, this will get finished, sooner or later. XP; Hehe... I'm really, really sorry... School sucks and, well... I suck. --;

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Chapter 5

Dedicated, yet again, to the reviewers. :)

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It was nearing the end of the month and Koushiro had a big problem.

Money problems.

Oh, it was not as if his parents don't give him financial support. He's a genius, a responsible kid... what kind of parents doesn't support those kinds of kids?

No, it wasn't that.

It was the extra expenses that was spent buying Jyou's stuff that created this problem.

It wasn't as if Koushiro regretted it, no. He's a nice guy, although a bit sarcastic and tactless and, well, the usual genius behavior, and he doesn't really think of the purchases that he made as worthless but there is still the fact that he spent his allowance money (supposed to be exact for the bills and food) and he won't be getting it back soon. Of course, there's the option of asking his parents for money. They did tell him to contact them in case of emergency but they weren't really that well-off and, being a responsible kid, he didn't want to be a bother to his parents.

And so, here we are and here it is: bills.

And what does any self-respecting, responsible college student away from home do when there are money problems?

Right! Part-time jobs!

And so, here is Koushiro, walking along the streets of Tokyo, holding one of those classified-ads magazines, hoping for a decent part-time job, one with nice hours and a nicer pay.

:o:

"Gomenasai, Izumi-san. I'm afraid the position has been filled and as much as we want to hire you, there really are no vacancies. Good luck and God bless on your job hunting!"

It's always, always like that. This has been Koushiro's 4th job interview and they always, always say that. He's almost at his wits end when, suddenly, he spotted a sign in a nearby bookstore named "Page Turner".

Apparently, they are searching for a clerk.

Usually, you would think a genius like Koushiro could just get a high paying job but those jobs need a lot of documentations, a lot of processes, and a lot of time. Problem is, he needs cash and he needs it now. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And, right now? Koushiro's desperate.

"Okay, I'll try this one." Koushiro muttered under his breath.

Gathering himself, he crossed the street and opened the glass door. It was small, one of those little corner bookshops that carry limited stocks and limited varieties but give you a homey feel, unlike those big, air-conditioned, multi-national bookshops out there with their automatic doors.

"How may I help you, sir?" An elderly woman about the age of 60 walked towards Koushiro in a slow pace.

"Ah, I-, uh, saw the sign on the window-..." Koushiro said, stuttering a bit. He never was good with the elderly people, never having met his grandparents.

"Ah, yes. The clerk! Are you applying?" The old woman smiled.

"Yes. I am."

"Hmm..."

The old lady looked at him for a few seconds then-

"Okay then, you're hired. Can you start tomorrow at noon?"

"What?! Just like that?" Koushiro was shocked at how the old lady nonchalantly (and suddenly) hired him.

"Yes, just like that. Why, do you have a problem, young man?"

"Uh, no. None at all, ma'am."

"You're a good young man, I could learn to like you. Now, go. Scat! Come back tomorrow. Go home, eat dinner or whatever."

"Yes, ma'am!"

And Koushiro left, now employed as a clerk of the bookshop that's 2 blocks away from his apartment. Not too bad, if Koushiro can say so himself.

:o:

"Koushiro, tadaima!"

"Okaeri."

Koushiro took off his shoes by the door before padding over to the kitchenette.

"What are you cooking?"

"Jellyfish salad. I saw some jellyfish on sale at a very cheap price in the market earlier and this nice old lady saw me eyeing the jellyfish and told me how to make jellyfish salad. Decided to try it since it was really cheap. Have you ever tried eating jellyfish salad before?" Jyou asked, without looking up from slicing cucumbers.

Koushiro took some of the thinly-sliced cucumbers and stuck them in his mouth before replying.

"Hmm… Can't say I've ever, although with the food that my mom makes, I can't be too sure what exactly it was that we ate."

Jyou stopped chopping and stared at Koushiro.

"Surely it's not that bad…"

Koushiro shrugged and took a few more slices of cucumber before sitting down on one of the zabuton1.

"Anyways, what happened while you were out?" Jyou asked, returning to chopping, this time chopping garlic.

"Same old, same old. School, and… stuff."

"Hmm… Why is it that you don't go out with your classmates? I saw a lot of students with the same uniform as you passing through the market earlier."

"Huh. Well, they're not really my type of group."

"I see…"

Jyou didn't really "see" but he decided to stop asking since he wouldn't really be able to understand as he is—was—just a laptop and finished preparing the salad.

"Okay, I'm finished." Jyou announced, not really expecting a response but Koushiro surprisingly volunteered to help with arranging the table and such.

"I've always been the silent type, you know? I'd rather spend my time with computers and other electronic gadgets at home instead of going out and having their so-called "fun" with the classmates."

Jyou nodded, turning a bit red and staring at the table. "I see. So you value my company better than theirs?"

Koushiro fumbled and nearly dropped his chopsticks.

"Ah, that wasn't really what I—," Koushiro paused to think about it. "Well, now that you mention it, yeah, I guess."

Koushiro grinned sheepishly.

"I guess it slipped my mind that you aren't really a human being, that you were my laptop."

Jyou looked up in surprise.

Koushiro just looked away.

"Ma, itadakimasu."

:o:

To be continued…

A/N: Okay, so it's not as long as the chapters before and maybe it's not worth the time it took me to churn this one out. I'm sorry. I don't really mean to do it. It's just… one thing happens then another follows it and another and before I knew it, a lot of time has already passed. TT-TT Gomenasai…

P.S. You might have noticed that my style has changed. I don't know if it's a change for the better or not. I think I've mellowed and turned boring and cheesy with age…


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello. I know, it's been a long time. I've been saying that a lot of times already. Sorry... I really am sorry. I know that there are some people who wants this story to be finished and I will. I thank everyone of you for your patience. For those who gave up waiting, I'm really sorry. For those who are still here, thank you very much. You can't believe how touched I am. I also know that my long absences are mostly inexcusible, especially for a mediocre, slow-paced story such as mine. All I can say is that a lot of things have happened, at the same time, haven't happened. When I started this story, I was really young and well, time passed and I grew up, maybe for the better or maybe for the worse. I'm hoping for the better.

Jyou, in the middle, turns the mood introspective and a bit gloomy. I'm quite sorry for the sudden seriousness of the tone. I don't really know if it was necessary or not, just that it flowed to that direction from me. Please excuse my selfishness. Perhaps it was because of the melacholic soundtrack which I have been listening to. I'm usually swayed by whichever music I listen to while writing.

Anyways, I have two chapters (supposedly a record for me, considering my slower-than-a-snail pace, but is not really 'cause I finished this chapter two months before I even got the idea needed to be able to start on the next one) for all you wonderful people today. Hope you all like them.

-  
Chapter 6 --

Koushiro have started working as a clerk in the small bookstore and, despite his earlier grievances of having to do a job as simple as a clerk of a small store will not exactly stimulate him too much, he had clearly underestimated the number of loyal clientele that this particular bookstore has. It is undeniable that there are a lot of small bookstores littered all around Tokyo but Koushiro doesn't think that business in those bookstore are quite the same as this one.

For one, there are no fixed prices on the books. Koushiro had to learn from the eccentric owner of the bookshop how to appraise each and every book of what its' proper worth is. Next, the owner insists that the people who work in the bookstore (namely Koushiro) be on name-to-name basis with the regular clients because the shop takes special requests and/or orders from people who are loyal to the store and/or are liked by the owner so Koushiro had to basically memorize who was a regular customer and who was not. But that wasn't what dismayed Koushiro the most.

It was the fact that the system in which each sale was recorded and/or ordered only worked for and understood by the woman who owned the bookstore herself.

It was confusing, really. It is so inefficient, it's not even funny and for Koushiro, it is his total nightmare. Because of his superior intellect, he kept on formulating more efficient (theoretically) management systems even if he didn't want to. However, when he tried to talk to the old woman, she just smirked at him and told him to just do as she told him to.

By the time Koushiro got home, he was so tired that all he wanted to do was to sleep but he can't because he still have to do his heavy schoolwork.

There are times when Koushiro asks himself why he really pushed to get into Toudai. There are a lot of good universities in Japan and outside of it, especially in the science and technology department but each and everytime he does it, he slaps himself to clear his head of doubts. He wanted to go to Toudai, he wanted to graduate as top of his class in no other school. It's been his goal ever since he knew what Toudai was and no one and nothing is going to stop him, not schoolwork, not the clerk job, not money problems, not even exhaustion!

And so, there goes another night in Koushiro's life.

--

Jyou usually sits in a corner during the night.

He lives nocturnally, a fact that separates him from the rest of the normal populace and especially from Koushiro. Although Koushiro tries, he could never ever keep himself from sleeping and Jyou took it upon himself to help a groggy Koushiro on a laid out futon each and every night1 then he cleans up all the scattered belongings, trying to judge each item of its' importance to Koushiro.

Once everything is cleaned up and Koushiro is well into dreamland, Jyou usually pads over to "his" corner, sometimes to read, sometimes to look at the sky from the window while thinking. It has never bothered Jyou that he doesn't sleep at the same time as normal humans do, it is just another fact of his existence, just like he was an unnatural object spawned from an abnormal electrical surge to an inanimate machine, just like his inability to eat anything other than, well, a bowl of vegetables and he can't even (and doesn't even need to) ingest a lot (or any) of it. He only does it so that Koushiro won't be too uncomfortable with eating.

There are also times when he becomes bold enough to sit near Koushiro and stare at him through the night. Curiosity fills Jyou each and every time he looks at Koushiro's sleeping form. It makes him wonder how someone who looked as human as him could be so different. The only difference between the two, the smallest of all, was the composition of their rawest, innermost workings: him organic and Jyou inorganic, but this made a world of difference, maybe not to Koushiro, but to Jyou. Those who are made organically are known to not see the bigger picture, not really. Although they may grasp the concept, it is one to hold it inside and think it, it is another to actually KNOW it, which is probably the reason how Koushiro can accept Jyou. Despite knowing that he came from unnatural beginnings, Koushiro didn't, doesn't--haven't really fully known the circumstances in which Jyou was brought into the world. Inorganically-made objects though, are so exact in everything that there is nothing else than what is known. Nothing can be more or less.

However, before any more thought is made, the sun usually makes its appearance at this moment, always always breaking Jyou's nightly musings.

Then a harsh beeping sound would permeate the space around Jyou, signalling the start of a new morning.

--

Mimi came to visit again.

Koushiro just got back earlier since it was a weekend from his job at the bookstore when he saw Mimi entering his apartment complex, carrying what seems to be a box of cakes and sweets.

"MIMI!"

Mimi turned and glomped Koushiro.

"Whee! Koushiro, how've you been?"

"Fine, but what are you doing here?"

"Visiting you, of course. When I told mom that I met you a month or two ago, she told me to bring you something to eat 'cause you're living in the big city for the first time and without your parents here too so she figured you must be going short on cash or what happens to the usual boarding students. Besides, you know that mom absolutely adores you. You were such a, and I quote, "cute little know-it-all" before and you took to whatever she taught you in an instant. And remember, she and your mom used to dress you in those cute frilly-"

"Hai, hai, Mimi. Sou desuka. Okay, now go inside before my neighbors (namely Taichi) find out another embarrassing childhood story."

Koushiro immediately pushed Mimi inside his apartment.

"Okaeri, Jyou!" Koushiro announced, while taking off his shoes. Mimi knelt to take off hers because she was wearing this pair of heeled pink pumps that have these long straps that goes up your calf, like a ballerina's toe shoes and since Koushiro figured it would take Mimi some time to unlace her shoes, he continued on to the apartment, dropping off his bag beside his desk.

"Tadaima, Koushiro." Jyou greeted back. He was sitting up from his corner, rubbing his eyes a bit.

"Oh, were you sleeping? I'm sorry to wake you."

Koushiro frowned a little at his thoughtlessness.

"It's okay, Koushiro. You didn't wake me up, I woke up a few minutes before you entered the room." Jyou rubbed his eyes again then stood up. He was about to go to the kitchenette when he noticed Mimi. "Konnichiwa, Mimi-san." He approached Mimi. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Mimi smiled at him, thankful. "Yeah, thanks. Jyou-san, can you please take this box? I brought some cakes for us to eat while I was visiting but it is quite hard to unlace my shoes with only one hand while balancing a box of cakes on the other."

"No problem, Mimi-san." He then proceeded to take the box and place it on the table. Afterwhich, he prepared some tea and cutleries for eating. When he arrived back at the table, Mimi was already there, opening the box.

"Oi, Kou-chan! Stop what you're doing for a moment and get yourself here or else there'll be no cake left for you!"

Koushiro sighed and stepped out of the bathroom. (Don't worry, he was just washing his hands.)

"Mimi, you're such a glutton, especially for sweets. I don't know how you manage to stay thin after all those cakes and pies that you've devoured."

"Excuse me, this body of mine is a product of hardwork. I go to the gym every odd weekday (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), I don't eat anything too fatty, I've probably tasted and eaten all of the kinds of salads that this world has to offer. An occassional sugary treat, I think, is okay."

Koushiro gulped, knowing that he just treaded upon a taboo subject. "Gomen, Mimi. I forgot."

Mimi sighed... then laughed.

"Haha! You should've seen your face, Koushiro! It's okay, really. It's all in the past now, I'm not mad. I was just playing you."

Koushiro tried his best to look annoyed but couldn't because he knew.

Mimi stopped laughing and changed the subject.

"Jyou-san, why aren't you eating?"

Jyou and Koushiro suddenly panicked.

"I, uh, um..."

Jyou turned to Koushiro discreetly, asking what he was supposed to do. Koushiro, genius that he is, comes to the rescue.

"Um, because he's diabetic!" Koushiro answered. Jyou nodded to confirm his story.

"Sou ka... But, Koushiro, I asked Jyou-san, why are you answering for him?"

Koushiro flushed red at being caught.

"I, uh, be- because..."

Then Mimi's confused expression turned cat-like.

"AHA! Koushiro!" Mimi hugged him across the table.

"ACK! Mimi! The cakes! The tea!"

"Nevermind the cakes or the tea! I can't believe you've grown this much already! I'm so proud of you, Kou-chan!" Mimi snuggled Koushiro's head, the only part of Koushiro's short body that Mimi was able to reach.

Koushiro pushed Mimi off him, confused. "What do you mean, Mimi?!"

Mimi slapped him playfully at the arm.

"Aw, Kou-chan! No need to be shy! We've been friends since we were in diapers! You shouldn't keep the fact that you have a boyfriend now from me." Mimi turned to Jyou. "Jyou-san, please take care of my friend because if you don't, well, I, Tachikawa Mimi, will make sure your life would be hell. Are we clear?"

Jyou nodded, gulping. His hair went up as he felt a chill run down his back.

"Hai, Mimi-san..."

"Oh, no more of that nasty honorific stuff! In Koushiro and my relationship, it's all mi casa e su casa and it extends to significant others, so since I'm Koushiro's friend and you're Koushiro's lover," Mimi winks at Koushiro. "Then we're friends as well. Call me Mimi, can I call you Jyou?"

"C-certainly, Mimi-sa-I mean, Mimi."

"Good!"

Koushiro cut in in panic.

"Ch-CHOTTO MATTE! Mimi, you have the wrong idea! Jyou and I are just friends! JUST FRIENDS!"

"Oh, is that so?"

Mimi fell silent from disappointment. She knew, ever since the first time she saw Koushiro untangling the apron from Jyou's back, that they had a spark between them and she knows that they would do each other a ton of good.

'But knowing Koushiro, emotionally dense as he is, he won't do any move on Jyou, even if he finds out his true feelings. It's unfair, why doesn't Koushiro have more courage? Damn i--oh, wait! I can match make them together!'

Mimi smiled at this thought and ate the cakes with more gusto, happiness filling her for finally solving her friend's relationship problems.

With the sudden huge grin in Mimi's face, Koushiro and Jyou, but moreso Koushiro, felt that something terribly, terribly bad will happen. Too bad the two doesn't know how bad exactly...

--

To be continued...

--

1 - I know, Koushiro has a bed and Jyou's supposedly on the futon but Jyou's, well, thin and lanky. I don't think he'll want to carry Koushiro to his bed every night that he fell asleep anywhere else in the apartment other than his bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Computer Blues

A/N: I can't explain it, but I have no inspiration whatsoever for the past years, which explains my slowness because I can't seem to write the way I want to so I don't at all. I'm sorry, everyone, and thank you for your patience...

Chapter 7

Koushiro sat down after (finally) being able to usher their "visitor" POLITELY (and you do not know how much Koushiro needs to stress the importance of this word and how much it took for him to do it this way) out the door and out of their apartment, a bit exhausted with Mimi's visit.

And it didn't escape his notice that he used the pronoun "their", meaning his and Jyou's, when talking about the apartment, although he didn't really want to think much about it.

"I swear, she just gets more energy as the years pass by." Koushiro complained, trying to get his mind off of what it just made him notice.

"Surely you're kidding me. It's possible for Mimi to become more energetic AND will do so in the not-quite-far future?" Jyou said, incredulously.

--well, fat chance of him forgetting that little "their" fact if the other half of the pronoun actually replied to (and, therefore, reminded him of it) his supposed distraction.

Or maybe he's just lousy at thinking up distraction methods.

Damn Mimi for making the assumption that they were boyfriends! Now he couldn't get it out of his mind. How could anyone possibly assume that? He wasn't gay, and Jyou wasn't gay. Heck, Jyou wasn't even supposed to be human, if you take the fact that he was Koushiro's LAPTOP into account.

"Maybe you're just turning older and getting more senile, Koushiro."

Or yeah, maybe I'm just becoming se--WHA-!!

"What?!" Koushiro turned his head sharply that the room went blurry for a few seconds and he felt his neck complain about the strain.

Jyou laughed. "I was just kidding, Koushiro."

Koushiro glared at Jyou. "Jyou, you--!"

And he jumped him. (Not in that way, mind you.)

"HahaaHHAaaha-Kou! Sh-hhhaahaa-Shiro, stop!" Jyou tried to slap Koushiro's hands away from his body and breathe from all the laughter but found that Koushiro won't budge.

"Ha! Take that! Who're you to call me senile?" Koushiro said smugly, all the while still tickling Jyou, not because he wanted revenge anymore, but rather because he liked hearing Jyou's laugh.

"KOU! Kouuuu!! Haaha... Stop... can't... haha... breathe..." Jyou was already turning red around the face and Koushiro finally snapped to his senses--Right, breathe. Basic human function.--and stopped.

"Sorry, Jyou, I-"

And suddenly, Koushiro became aware of what their position (ohmygodimontopofhim) on the floor was and why he shouldn't be tickling someone right after someone else placed wrong ideas in his mind about this certain someone but he couldn't move. Koushiro's body liked the feeling of being on top of Jyou and his mind was too disoriented to force it to move away and to STOP LOOKING AT JYOU'S TONGUE WHICH WAS WETTING HIS LIPS.

Jyou finally got his breath back and finished moistening his lips which were dry from all his gasping for air when he noticed Koushiro's unmoving stare. He doesn't know whether or not the tickle-r lying on top of the tickle-e and staring at them was human custom but he was starting to get uncomfortable mostly from being close to the dust on the floor and a bit because of having Koushiro's gaze directed fully at him and he imagined that it wasn't comfortable for Koushiro either 'cause his eyes should've been dry now from not blinking so he went and told Koushiro.

"Hey, Koushiro, you can move now."

Koushiro blinked blankly at him for 1, 2, 3 seconds then--

"GAH! I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry, it was nothing. The dust was just getting to me so I had to ask you to move or sneeze you off me." Jyou smiled. "Anyways, do you want anything to eat for dinner? I can't imagine the cake was filling enough, not to mention it isn't what you'd usually call dinner, maybe a dessert, but not dinner."

"Not unless you're Mimi, it isn't." Koushiro retorted, then laughed a bit. "But it's okay, Jyou. I think I'll just skip dinner tonight and sleep early, since I have class early tomorrow." Not to mention, if Koushiro did eat dinner, he'll be plagued still with this whole boyfriend thing and it may cause irreparable changes in his thought pattern. No, sleep was good. Shut up, stomach.

"Anyways, good night."

"Good night, Koushiro."

And Koushiro bounded off to his bed, untucked his blanket, and slept immediately, too tired to change his clothes, or even reach for his blanket which fell off when he yanked at it. Jyou padded over to Koushiro after cleaning off the plates, placed Koushiro's blanket on him, and sat in his futon, reading a book to spend the night.

:o:

There was a knock on the door, waking up Jyou, which was strange, considering that Koushiro's not due back for a few more hours.

"Who is it?"

"Jyou, open up! It's Mimi!"

"Okay, wait just a second."

Jyou stood and went to answer the door.

It's a good thing that the apartment door swung outwards 'cause Mimi impatiently opened the door the second it was unlocked, not even waiting for Jyou to open it himself.

"JYOU! Do you know what day this coming Sunday is?"

"Uhhh..."

"MEN!" Mimi sighed loudly and exasperatedly. "It's Koushiro's birthday, Jyou! Do you plan on getting him something?"

Jyou was confused. What was this birthday? Is it related to giving birth? Was gift-giving required during these events? Can Koushiro even give birth?!

"Um, no?"

Mimi sighed. "I was kinda expecting that when it seemed that you didn't know it was Koushiro's birthday. But don't worry, I'm here. I'll help you pick something out for--"

"Pick out something for who? For what?"

Mimi jumped a little from the shock and looked at the source of the voice behind her.

It was Taichi.

"Whew!" Mimi sagged against the door in relief. "Why don't you announce yourself first before butting in a private conversation and shocking poor Jyou into a heart attack?!"

Jyou had thought that it was Mimi who looked like there's something wrong with her, but who's he to know what was what, right?

"Sorry!" Taichi apologized, sincerely. "So, what's this about picking something out? Are we getting Jyou a girlfriend or something?"

"No, it's about Koushiro's birthday this Sunday and who said something about 'we'? I don't even know who you are!"

"Hey, I'm a friend of Koushiro's! Jyou, tell her!"

"Maa, it's okay, Mimi. Taichi's our neighbor. He already met Koushiro. In fact, he and his boyfriend Yamato helped us out when I first came here." Jyou patted Mimi on the shoulder.

"Oh, alright." Mimi agreed.

"So what's this about picking out something? Is it a party for Koushiro?" Taichi asked, excited.

"OH! What a good idea!" Mimi exclaimed delightedly and suddenly, as if the hostility that was there before didn't even exist and both Taichi and Mimi, with hooked arms, acting like they're the best of friends, barged into the apartment. "I can get Lumiere's to cater and we can invite all of Koushiro's classmates from school!"

"Whoa," Taichi whistled. "Lumiere's? Are you rich or something?"

"Something like that. And Koushiro's a childhood friend so my parents would totally agree with any expenses."

"Well, leave the entertainment to me! I can get the Teen-Age Wolves to perform..."

"Oh, that'll be brilliant! Totally the bash of the year..."

Jyou tried his best to keep up with the discussion but found out that he can't. They were bouncing off statements too fast for him to comprehend so he just let them be and make it look like he was listening, although from what little he did manage to gather from their discussion, this would be a party that Koushiro won't be too excited about.

"...so what do you think, Jyou?"

"Erm," Jyou stammered a bit then regained his composure. "I think we should make it more subdued. You know, like a small gathering? I can handle the food, Taichi can get Yamato to come and perform a few songs for us if he wants to, and, Mimi, you can do the decorations and cake. See? As for a guest list, I think it would be better to just invite a few of his close friends, not his whole school. Maybe, amounting to around 15 to 20 people, including us. So, what do you think?"

Jyou bit his lip nervously 'cause what did he know about birthing celebrations, right?

"Jyou," Taichi said, eyes sparkling. "THAT IDEA IS FUCKING BRILLIANT! Right, Mimi?"

"Oh, yes! I can totally see Koushiro enjoying that kind of party more. You're good at this, Jyou!" Mimi clapped her hands and had a huge grin on her face. "OH! But, what about your gift, Jyou? What are you giving Koushiro?"

Jyou was at an absolute loss and maybe this showed because Mimi suddenly grabbed his arm and hauled him up.

"Oh, Jyou..." Mimi Don't worry! I happen to know that there's this new computer game that Koushiro's so addicted to called Digital Monsters..."

"Yeah, Jyou!" Taichi chimed in, grabbing his other arm and together, they began dragging Jyou out of the apartment. "I remember, he was looking at this weird, insect-like creature with pink-purplish shell thing..."

And so, that's why Jyou found himself a few minutes later, sitting down on the passenger seat of Mimi's pink convertible, with Taichi and Mimi singing along to the song on the radio, on the way to the mall.

--

To be continued...

--

Oh, and a happy, happy 18th birthday to my sister today!


End file.
